Woman accused of kicking Orlando officer's chest faces felony

'There are real criminals out there and you're going to arrest me because I am drunk?' Jamie Baldiga, 21, told an OPD officer before her violent meltdown, a report shows.

July 12, 2010|By Walter Pacheco, Orlando Sentinel

A 21-year-old woman kicked an officer in the chest twice during a violent meltdown in the back of his patrol car after he arrested her on a DUI charge, police said Monday.

Officer Joshua McNutt of the Orlando Police Department said Jamie Baldiga dropped an arsenal of F-bombs, slipped out of her handcuffs and forcibly rocked the cop's car with her antics on the way to the Orange County Jail on Friday.

Even a three-second burst of pepper spray to the Cape Coral woman's face didn't stop the assault.

"It should be noted that through all my years of law enforcement, I have never dealt with a more violent and uncooperative person," McNutt wrote in his report.

McNutt has been with OPD for more than three years, Sgt. Barbara Jones of the Police Department said.

Baldiga — who has been arrested three times on alcohol-related incidents since 2009 — faces a felony charge of battery on a law enforcement officer.

She also faces misdemeanor charges of resisting arrest without violence and driving under the influence.

If convicted for the felony charge, she could face five years in prison.

She spent half a day behind bars in her latest arrest and bailed out after paying $2,100. Baldiga could not be reached for comment Monday.

Police reports show Baldiga's encounter with police was a brew of diva attitude, expletives and plenty of violence.

The woman was stopped around 3:40 a.m. near State Road 408 and Interstate 4. Police said they spotted her Chevrolet swerving and affecting other motorists.

"Yeah, I had one drink," she told McNutt, according to his report. "Get me a ride home."

When McNutt refused to give her a ride, she rolled off a couple of expletives and told him, "There are real criminals out there and you're going to arrest me because I am drunk?" the report shows.

She initially agreed to perform a few sobriety tests, but changed her mind, boasting, "I have brothers that go to Harvard." She started to walk away and McNutt cuffed her.

The officer placed her in the back seat, and he started to drive to the jail when she slipped her right hand out of the handcuffs and started to bang on his seat, the back window, the roof and doors of the patrol car.

He stopped the car to put the handcuffs back on and that's when reports say she kicked McNutt twice in the chest.

McNutt pulled out the chemical spray and shot a burst of it on her face.

But the irritant wasn't enough to control Baldiga.

Records show she had to be placed in a special area of the jail "because of her violent nature."

Allen Moore of the Orange County Jail said that area is reserved for arrestees who exhibit "behavioral problems that could spread to other inmates."

Baldiga's mug shot shows her smiling at the camera with bloodshot and glassy eyes.

Orange-Osceola State Attorney's Office records show her first arrest was in February 2009 — when she was under the legal drinking age.

Prosecutors did not file charges of possession of alcohol by a minor or providing a false ID to law enforcement because there was insufficient evidence to prove the case.

Her next arrest was in March. The state dropped charges of disorderly intoxication and adjudication was withheld on the charge of resisting an officer without violence.

She spent two days in jail and paid almost $500 in court costs in that case.